Context : Supreme Court’s Order (January 30, 2024)
- Allowed High Courts to appoint retired judges on an ad-hoc basis to hear only criminal appeals.
- The ad-hoc judges must function as part of a Bench led by a sitting judge.
- Relaxed the Lok Prahari (2021) rule, which restricted such appointments to High Courts with judicial vacancies exceeding 20%.
- Capped the number of ad-hoc judges at 10% of a High Court’s sanctioned strength (i.e., 2 to 5 per High Court).
Relevance : GS 2(Judiciary)
Previous Instances of Ad-hoc Judicial Appointments
- 1972 – Justice Suraj Bhan appointed to Madhya Pradesh High Court (election petitions).
- 1982 – Justice P. Venugopal appointed to Madras High Court.
- 2007 – Justice O.P. Srivastava appointed to Allahabad High Court (Ayodhya title suits).
Lok Prahari Judgment (2021) – Rule & Conditions
- Rule Set: Ad-hoc appointments allowed only when judicial vacancies exceed 20% of the sanctioned strength.
- Conditions Identified for Appointment:
- High Court vacancies exceed 20%.
- Cases in a category pending for more than 5 years.
- More than 10% of total cases pending for over 5 years.
- Case clearance rate lower than the rate of new case filing.
- Court recommended each Chief Justice form a panel of retired judges for potential ad-hoc appointments.
Article 224-A: Constitutional Provision for Ad-hoc Judges
- Introduced via 15th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1963.
- Mandates:
- Allows retired judges to be appointed to High Courts on an ad-hoc basis.
- Requires consent of both the retired judge and the President of India.
- Ad-hoc judges enjoy the same powers, privileges, and jurisdiction as sitting High Court judges.
- Remuneration and allowances are determined by a Presidential order.
- Procedure for Appointment: Outlined in the 1998 Memorandum of Procedure (MoP).
Latest Order & Justification
- 62 lakh pending cases in High Courts (as of January 25, 2024).
- 18.2 lakh criminal cases and 44 lakh civil cases.
- Supreme Court removed the 20% vacancy requirement to allow flexibility in appointing ad-hoc judges.
- New restriction: Ad-hoc judges can only hear criminal appeals to ensure faster disposal of cases.
